UP to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid while in hospital being treated for something else. The figures, provided by the hospitals, have been described by relatives of those who died, as “horrifying”, reports The Guardian. �� 6 Nurses changing their PPE on Ward 5, a Covid Red Ward, at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in PaisleyCredit: PA 6 Nurses change bed clothes at the Mater Hospital Covid-19 recovery ward in BelfastCredit: PA Hospital acquired Covid - which reportedly has caused “many thousands” of unavoidable deaths - has been described by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt as “one of the silent scandals of this pandemic”. Senior doctors and NHS leaders have long said hospitals have struggled to prevent the virus spreading like wildfire throughout the hospitals - because of shortages of single rooms, a lack of PPE and an inability to test staff and patients early in the pandemic.